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Posts by Kalela W. (11)

How do we dream ourselves out of this? It’s 1968, 50 years ago. This is what August, a young girl freshly uprooted from her rural Tennessee home, now living in the Bushwick section of… continue reading

Like the enormous condo building that is being erected on your block right now, the word "gentrification" has loomed large recently. Its definition is tough to pin down and experts have… continue reading

Gladys Jamison couldn’t know this, but she was a girl coming of age in an exodus. Thirteen years old when her father moved her and her siblings to Brooklyn, she’d lost her mother five… continue reading

It has been more than 150 years since Octavius Catto may have slipped on a sack overcoat that hung by his front door, pushed a well-worn felt pocket hat over his parted hair, stepped out into the… continue reading

Was I ever not-weird? I really can’t say. From the time I can remember, I was a weird child who grew into a weird teen who went on to become a weird adult. Part of my oddity has been a… continue reading

The 2017 One Book, One Philadelphia kickoff event is set for tonight and marks the 15th year of this beloved Philadelphia tradition. Can you believe it? The very first One Book, One Philadelphia… continue reading

Historical nonfiction is all the rage. Erik Larson seems to have a spot reserved for him on the New York Times bestseller list; David McCullough is so much a household name, he’s verging on… continue reading

When everyone in Philadelphia is reading the same book as part of the One Book, One Philadelphia program, how is that work chosen? A small committee of Free Library staff, educators, and One Book… continue reading

I used to watch a lot of true crime shows. My roster? Fatal Vows , Nightmare Next Door , Snapped , Homicide Hunter , and Stalke d, which told the stories of real crimes and how they were… continue reading